U-17s Draw Brazil, Mexico then Portugal at Nike National Team Friendlies

NewsSep 7, 2006

BEAVERTON, Ore. (Sept. 6, 2006) – The U.S. Under-17 ’90 Men’s National Team will kick off the Nike National Team Friendlies against Brazil tomorrow morning (Sept. 7) after drawing the three-time U-17 world champions for their first match of the tournament earlier this evening. The match will begin a 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET) on the Ronaldo Fields on the Nike Campus in Beaverton, Ore.

The U.S. will face reigning U-17 world champion Mexico in its second match a day later on Friday, Sept. 8 at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET), and then finish off the three-game event against Portugal on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 11 p.m. PT (2 p.m. ET).

“Tomorrow we get Brazil, then Friday we get the world champion in Mexico and finally on Sunday we face Portugal, a team whose full team just finished in the top four in the World Cup,” said U-17 Men’s National Team head coach John Hackworth. “But this is a great event in that respect. This is really for the development of all these players, of all four nations. This is truly how you become a player at this kind of level. You can’t be in these kinds of big games or have these experiences anywhere else. We’re looking forward to it.”

The draw for the match schedule was held after a reception dinner for all four U-17 teams at the Tiger Woods Center on the Nike Campus. Bebeto, the Brazilian star forward who teamed up with Romario at the 1994 World Cup, conducted the actual draw.

The friendlies are structured in a six-game round-robin format with two games a day on Sept. 7, 8 and 10. All six games will be played on the Ronaldo Fields at the Nike Campus.